Athletic mouthguard with customizable color insert

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a protective mouthguard for use by athletes that incorporates a color customizable feature, allowing users to customize the visible color of the mouthguard. The invented protective mouthguard has a u-shaped base that will fit inside of a user&#39;s mouth. The front surface of the mouthguard can be visible when the mouthguard is worn by the user inside of his mouth. A colorable strip is placed inside a cavity in the front wall of the mouthguard and is visible through holes that are placed in the front wall.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to provisional application No.60/976,175 filed on Sep. 28, 2007, the entire disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a protective mouthguard for use by athletesthat incorporates a color customizable feature, allowing users tocustomize the visible color of the mouthguard.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Existing mouthguards are generally horseshoe or U-shaped, with inner andouter walls that form a trough or channel for the upper or lower teeth.The mouthguards are typically made of a type of resin, usually athermoplastic that softens in boiling water allowing the user tocustomize the mouthguard to fit the user's mouth, while stillmaintaining shock absorbing properties. The mouthguards are generallyproduced using an injection molding process, during which the resin isinjected at high pressure into a mold, which is the inverse of theproduct's shape. The mold is typically made from metal andprecision-machined to form the features of the desired part. In themolding process, the design of the mold must account for the ability toremove the molded product from the mold without damaging or distortingthe molded product.

As many mouthguards are worn in team sports, it would be advantageous tohave mouthguards that colored with the appropriate team colors. Duringthe manufacturing process, a colorant, such as dye, can be added afterthe resin to produce different colors for the separate pieces that areinjection molded.

This form of color customization has some major disadvantages withregards to the production and mass manufacturing of the product. Eachtime the colorant is added, the entire injection molding process islengthened, which in turn increases production costs. In addition,because a different colorant has to be used if different colored piecesare desired, the process is further lengthened, and a continuous processcannot be maintained. Since the colorization of the mouthguard must bedone during the manufacturing process, any commercial mass manufacturermust accurately predict the amount of mouthguard that will sell for eachcolor and make the right amount for each. Such a prediction is notpractical. Any pre-colored mouthguards that have the wrong team colorswill not be bought by the users.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention solves the aforementioned problems by allowing themouthguard user to color customize the mouthguard post-production andpurchase. The mouthguard incorporates several different means in which acolor piece or tab is secured to a designated area of the mouthguard,and is visible from the outside of the mouthguard.

In general, the invented mouthguard is U-shaped to fit the shape of theuser's mouth, with optional inner and outer walls creating a trough forthe user's teeth. The mouthguard is made of a type of thermoplastic thatwill soften when heated to allow the user to fit the mouthguard to hismouth. The mouthguard has locations in which a color tab can be insertedthat will be visible when the user has the mouthguard in his mouth. Thelocations can be slots in the mouthguard that will hold the color tabsecurely with appropriately placed holes to reveal the colored tabs.

The use of the color tab/insert in the mouthguard provides an advantageover the use of coloration in the injection molding process. Because thecolor customization occurs after production of the mouthguard, themanufacturer can continuously produce one model per mold without anyinterruptions to the process. In addition, users of the mouthguard canswitch the color tabs/inserts if they so choose, whereas thecolorization during the injection molding process is permanent.

The mouthguard may also include an optional tether located and extendingout from the bottom of the mouthguard. The tether may be composed of thesame material as the mouthguard. The tether will have an area directlyattached to the tray bottom that will tear at a predetermined pull forcefor a desired tear away feature. The area could be thinner material orhave perforations to weaken the area. Other means of affecting the areato ensure that the area will break before any other section of thetether can be used and still be within the scope of the invention. Thetether piece will then thicken as it extends outward toward the wearer'sfacemask. Behind the area where the tether is designed to breakaway is ahole in the mouthguard. The hole is oval in shape while the tether iscylindrical or vice versa. The difference will allow the tether to havea friction fit within the hole. Once the tether is torn away, thiscreates a blind or invisible hole that is revealed so the user canreplace the tether with a friction type fit, round tongue to oval shapedhole.

The opposite side of the tether will feature a wrap around detail toattach to the users facemask found on most protective helmets. The wraparound detail involves a ratcheted system that will keep the tether loopcreated by looping the mouthpiece through the tether end opening andwhen pulled tight using the elastomer coefficient of frictioncharacteristics and a mating mechanical ratcheted detail keeping theloop tightly wound around the user's facemask. The wrap around featurewill have a pull away or break free force greater than that of the thintear away area molded next to the tray bottom.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the invented mouthguard in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the same embodiment with thecomponents separated from each other.

FIG. 3 shows a front view of the same embodiment with the customizablecolor insert in the mouthguard.

FIG. 4 shows a bottom view of the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows a top view of the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a side view of the same embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of the bottom tray of the mouthguardof FIG. 1 along the lines A-A.

FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of the mouthguard of FIG. 1 alongthe lines B-B.

FIG. 9 shows a front view of the color insert.

FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of the invented mouthguard inaccordance with another embodiment of the mouthguard.

FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of another embodiment with thecomponents separated from each other.

FIG. 12 shows a front view of yet another embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows a top view of the same embodiment.

FIG. 14 shows a side view of the same embodiment.

FIG. 15 shows a perspective view of yet another embodiment.

FIG. 16 shows a perspective view of yet another embodiment.

FIG. 17 shows a perspective view of yet another embodiment.

FIG. 18 shows a perspective view of yet another embodiment.

FIG. 19 shows a perspective view of yet another embodiment.

FIG. 20 shows a perspective view of yet another embodiment

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For the purposes of understanding the invention, reference will now bemade to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings. It will beunderstood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is therebyintended. Any alterations and further modifications in the describedembodiments, and any further applications of the principles of theinvention as described herein are contemplated as would normally occurto one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

FIGS. 1-8 depict one embodiment of the invention. The inventedmouthguard 100 is composed of a base unit 102 and tether 104. The baseunit 102 is U-shaped to conform to a user's mouth and the tether 104extends from the front of the mouthguard. On the top surface, base unit102 has a trough 112 running along the inside of the U-shape to fit theuser's upper teeth. In this embodiment, base unit 102 is comprised ofthree different portions: (1) a bottom tray 106, (2) a top piece 108 and(3) a color insert 110.

The three components of the base unit are configured to fit together.The bottom tray 106 is U-shaped and will be sized to fit into the user'smouth. The bottom tray 106 has a double outer wall 116 (composed ofinner wall 124 and outer wall 118) that can extend along the front ofthe mouthguard. If desirable, the double wall 116 can extend along theentire outside labial perimeter of the mouthguard, continuously or insections. The inner and outer walls 124, 118 are placed closed togetherso that a thin space or slot exists between the two in which the colorinsert 110 can be placed. The outer wall 118 of the double wall 116 hasholes 122 that reveal the color insert 110 when it is placed in the slot120. The holes in this embodiment are in the shape of an “X” and an “O”,though the invention is not limited to these shapes.

Inner wall of the double wall has a “trap door” that encloses the slotto ensure that the color insert 110 is firmly set within the slot 120.The trap door can be seen in detail in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a cut-awaydepiction of the bottom tray 106 along lines A-A. As can be seen, outerwall 118 is a straight wall with holes 122 in it. Inner wall 124 has alip 126 that projects toward outer wall 118. Once the color strip isplaced in the slot between the inner and outer walls, the projecting lip126 will prevent the color insert from coming out of the slot. Thelocation of projecting lip 126 is shown on inner wall, but it couldeasily be located on outer wall.

Top piece 108 is also in a U-shape to conform to the user's mouth. Toppiece 108 can have the trough 112 on its upper surface and the bottomsurface will conform to the upper surface of the bottom tray 106. Toppiece 108 will also have a lip 114 that will come on top of the doublewall 116. Lip 114 will help to seal the slot 120 and prevent colorinsert 110 from coming out of the slot 120.

A typical color tab/insert can be seen in FIG. 9. It is made of a firmyet malleable material, such as plastic or rubber, and can come indifferent forms, such as, but not limited to, stickers, decals, or justplain tabs. It can be of all various colors, but is not limited to asolid color as it may include patterns of different sorts as well. Thisprovides an additional advantage over existing mouthguards. With thecurrent molding process, it would be difficult, if not impossible, toincorporate elaborate patterns of any sort, let alone mass producemouthguards with such patterns. For commercialization purposes, amultitude of different colored inserts can be inexpensively manufacturedand packaged with a single mouthguard product.

Each component of base unit 102 can be easily manufactured usinginjection molding techniques. Other techniques, such as extrusion blowmolding, injection blow molding, compression molding, thermal forming orcast pour molding process lost core molding can also be used. Bottomtray 106 can be composed of a relatively material that has somedurability and flexibility, such as a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE).Bottom tray 106 will be molded first. Double wall 116, slot 120, holes122 and lip 126 are all moldable features and mouthguard bottom tray 106is easily removed from the mold. Bottom tray 106 will be capable ofaccepting a second shot of a softer, pliable material, such as ethylenevinyl acetate (“EVA”), on top of it to create top piece 108 during theinjection molding process. In this process, the top piece will conformto the shape of the bottom tray 106 and the lip 114 can be shaped tocover both inner and outer walls 118, 124 of the bottom tray 106. Colorinsert 110 can be easily manufactured in numerous colors and coloredpatterns to be included with the base unit 102. It will be evident toone of skill in the art that any appropriate materials can be used forboth the top and bottom pieces.

To custom color the mouthguard, the user will choose the appropriatelycolored color insert 110 that corresponds to the team colors. In orderto add the color insert 110, the user must pull up the outer lip 114 ofthe top piece 108 and slide the insert into the slot 120. The lip 114will naturally return back to its original shape and cover both the topsof the inner and outer walls. Alternatively, the color strip can beplaced into the slot 120 through appropriate openings in the side orbottom of the mouthguard.

After inserting the color insert 110, the user will custom fit themouthguard by boiling the mouthguard in water. This boiling process willsoften the top piece 108. Afterwards, the mouthguard is placed in theuser's mouth and the user will bite down onto the mouthguard to conformthe mouthguard to the teeth. After the mouthguard has cooled, the toppiece 108 will be cured and fitted to the user's teeth. In addition, thetop piece 108 will be forced against the double wall 116 and on top ofthe double wall 116 to seal the slot closed.

The configuration of the top piece 108 and the double wall 116 is bestseen in FIG. 8. FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of the twocomponents along line B-B. As can be seen in the detailed figure, theinner wall 124 and outer wall 118 are pressed against one another. Thisoccurs, in part, from the pressure from the user biting down on themouthguard during the customization process and the resilience of thetop piece 108 after being cured through the boil and bite process.

FIGS. 10-11 depict another embodiment that is a similar to theembodiment described above. Similar to that embodiment, the mouthguardbase unit 201 comprises a top piece 202, a bottom tray 203 and colorinsert 204. The bottom tray 203 has a single outer wall 207 instead of adouble wall. Single outer wall 207 has holes or revealed sections 206 inthe front. Top piece 202 has an indented section 210 in the front of itto accommodate the color insert 204. Color insert 204 will be placed inbetween the single outer wall 207 of bottom tray 203 and indentedsection 210 of the top piece 202. During the customization process inwhich the mouthguard is boiled and custom fitted to the user's teeth,the color insert will be secured in between the top piece and the bottomtray.

FIGS. 12-14 depict another embodiment in which the top piece 302 doesnot completely overlay the bottom piece 303. The top piece 302 only hasan outer wall that ends in a lip 307. Only the front teeth come intocontact with the top piece 302 at a bite portion 308. The back teethcome into contact with the trough 304 of the bottom piece 303. Thebottom piece still has the holes 310 in the front of its outer wall 305.The color insert can be seen through these holes 310, as shown in FIG.12.

FIG. 15 depicts another embodiment. Unlike the embodiments describedabove, this embodiment is made of only one piece. Similar to the bottompiece of the first embodiment, this mouthguard 401 has a double outerwall 402 and an inner wall 403 that form a trough 404 for the user'steeth. The double wall 402 creates a slot 406 in which the color insertwill fit. The outermost wall of the double wall 402 contains the holes405, and the color insert will be visible through these holes.

FIG. 16 depicts another embodiment that is similar to the previouslydescribed embodiment. In this embodiment, the slot 506 created by thedouble wall 502 extends all the way to the rear of the mouthguard 501.This allows the option of adding holes all along the outer wall, inaddition to the holes 505 in the front, and using a longer color insertto sit in the slot. The insert will then be visible through theseadditional holes all along the outer wall.

FIG. 17 depicts yet another embodiment that comprises just one piece601. It has an outer wall 602 and an inner wall 603, forming a trough604 for the user's teeth. In the outer wall 602, there is a removablesection 605 that contains the holes 606. This creates a recess orcompartment 607 within the front wall of the mouthguard in which thecolor insert is to be placed. After the color insert is placed in therecess, the removable section is fit back into the recess, therebyfirmly securing the color insert.

FIG. 18 depicts yet another embodiment that is made of only one piece701. The outer wall 702 has a slot 705 cut out in which the color insert707 is inserted in from the side. The front of the outer wall 702 hasholes 706 that penetrate to the back wall of the slot 705. Once thecolor insert 707 is inserted into the slot 705, the color will beclearly visible.

Another means in which this invention can realize the advantage of massproduction and easier customization by the user is to generally have acolor strip attached to the outer surface of the labial wall of themouthguard. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. Two such waysare depicted in FIGS. 19 and 20. Again, like the embodiments describedabove, these two embodiments are made of only one piece. However, on theouter surface of the outer wall are protrusions 805 and 905,respectively, on which the color tabs will be attached. Theseprotrusions take the shapes of knobs 805 and Ts 905, respectively. Withrespect to the knobs 805, the color tab 806 will have holes 807 to fitaround the knobs, and that are spaced appropriately apart to allow thetab 806 to fit tightly against the face of the outer wall 802. The Ts905 of the other embodiment perform a similar function of securing thecolor tab 906 to the body 901. The color tab 906 will likely have to beof greater thickness than the tabs/inserts of the previous embodimentsso that it may include the sister connections 907 to the T-shapedprotrusions 905. Another means to accomplish this may be done by using adecal or sticker to stick to the front of the labial wall of themouthguard, thereby eliminating the need for protrusions on the outerwall.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or general characteristics thereof; therefore,the embodiments described herein are to be considered in all respectsillustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is to beindicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoingdescription.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A mouthguard comprising: a base unit formed in ashape to conform to a user's mouth; and a tether extending from saidbase unit, said tether detachably secured to said base unit.
 22. Themouthguard as recited in claim 21, wherein said tether is composed ofthe same material as said base unit.
 23. The mouthguard as recited inclaim 21, wherein said tether is initially integral with said base unitand capable of being detached upon the application of a predeterminedpull force on an attachment site at the bottom of said base unit. 24.The mouthguard as recited in claim 23, wherein said tether is capable ofbeing reattached to said base unit at said attachment site.
 25. Themouthguard as recited in claim 23, wherein said tether includes abreakaway feature at said attachment site.
 26. The mouthguard as recitedin claim 25, wherein said breakaway feature comprises perforations onsaid tether near a point of attachment at said attachment site.
 27. Themouthguard as recited in claim 25, wherein said breakaway featurecomprises a smaller diameter of tether material proximal to saidattachment site and a larger diameter of tether material distal to saidattachment site.
 28. The mouthguard as recited in claim 24, wherein saidattachment site includes a hole into which said tether can be insertedafter being initially detached from said base unit.
 29. The mouthguardas recited in claim 28, wherein said hole in said attachment site isshaped differently from a proximal end of said tether to allow afriction fit between said tether and said hole in said attachment site.30. The mouthguard as recited in claim 29, wherein said hole in saidattachment site is oval in shape and said proximal end of said tether iscylindrical in shape.
 31. The mouthguard as recited in claim 29, whereinsaid hole in said attachment site is cylindrical in shape and saidproximal end of said tether is oval in shape.
 32. A mouthguardcomprising: a base unit formed in shape to conform to a user's mouth;and a tether having a distal end extending from said base unit, saidtether having a wrap around detail at said distal end of said tether,said wrap around detail comprising an opening in said tether and aratchet detail.
 33. The mouthguard as recited in claim 32, wherein saidtether is composed of the same material as said base unit.
 34. Themouthguard as recited in claim 32, wherein said opening is a sufficientsize to allow said base unit to pass through said opening and create aloop in said tether.
 35. The mouthguard as recited in claim 32, whereinsaid ratchet detail comprises at least one pair of ratchets on opposingsides of said opening in said tether.
 36. The mouthguard as recited inclaim 35, wherein said ratchets are located on said distal end of saidtether such that when said tether is looped around an object throughsaid opening, said distal end of said tether adjacent said openingengages said ratchets to secure said tether to said object.
 37. Themouthguard as recited in claim 36, wherein said tether is capable ofbeing detached and reattached to said base unit at an attachment site atthe bottom of said base unit.
 38. The mouthguard as recited in claim 37,wherein said tether has a minimum pull force required to detach saidtether from said base unit at said attachment site.
 39. The mouthguardas recited in claim 38, wherein said wrap around detail has a minimumpull force required to break away said wrap around detail from an objectaround which said tether is looped.
 40. The mouthguard as recited inclaim 39, wherein said minimum pull force required to break away saidwrap around detail from an object around which said wrap around detailis looped is greater than said minimum pull force required to detachsaid tether from said base unit at said attachment site.